Brush-holder.



No. 655,824. I Patented Aug. I4, 1900. H. F. T. EBBEN & W. B. POTTER.

BRUSH HOLDER.

(Application filed Aug. 29, 1898.)

&No Model.)

D Hermann FIT. Erben, d y Williams. pobbgr,

NITED STATES PATENT HERMANN F. T. ERBEN AND WILLIAM B. POTTER, OF SOHENEOTADY, NEWV YORK, ASSIGNORS TO THE GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF NEIV YORK.

BRUSH-HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 655,824, dated August 14, 1900.

Application filed August 29,1898. Serial No. 689,779. (No model.)

T all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that we, IIERMANN F. T. ER- BEN and WILLIAM B. POTTER, citizens of the United States, residing at Schenectady, in the county of Schenectady, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Brush-Holders, (Case No. 718,) of which the followingis a specification. Our present invention relates to brush-holders for dynamo-electric machines, and has for its object to provide for such devices a convenient and efficientcontact-arm in which the brushes may be readily removed and renewed andin which the springs shall not carry t5 such substantial portion of the current as to affect their resilience. At the same time the brush-holder is readily taken apart and the brushes can be easily removed and quickly replaced without interrupting the running of the dynamo.v Unlike most devices of the class described the shank of the brush-holder is solidly and substantially fixed on the stud. The entire movement of the device during operation is therefore in the spring andin the brush itself, which the spring holds down upon the commutator.

The accompanying drawings show an embodiment of the invention, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective of the brush-holder 0 with one of the brushes connected and the other about to beremoved. Fig. 2 is a side elevation. Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

In Fig. 1, A is the stud to which the brushholders are secured, and B B are the usual insnlating septa. O O are the solid shanks of the brush-holders, and O O are the boxes containing the carbon brushes 1. D is a bolt (shown in Figs. 2 and 3) clamping the shank upon the stud A, the hole A being a working fit with the stud, and the shank being split so as to form two lugs c c, which the bolt draws together to clamp the shank upon the stud. E is a spring pressing the carbon brush I toward the commutator 0. (See Fig. 2.) The spring is preferably of phosphor-bronze or some other material the clasticity of which is not affected by moderate changes in temperature, although it carries only a part of the current, reliance being placed upon the conductor G to carry the main current. This conductor is provided with a terminal G, fitting under the nut or integral shoulder F upon the adjustingscrew ,F and by it being clamped in place, the same screw adjusting the tension of the spring and carrying the nut F which holds the terminal and the spring in position. This arrangement is also shown in section in Fig. 3.

In Figs. 2 and 3 we show that the screw F, in addition to the nut F has also amilled nut F, which serves to adjust the tension of the spring E. As seen in Figs. 1 and 3, this screw works through a slot 6 in the spring, in which the squared and tapered part f of the milled nut fits, preventing the rotation of the latter. The springis reinforced over the slot by a plate 6. The arrangement is such that the correct tension of the spring may be preserved during the shifting of the brushes, as will be afterward explained. The conductor G is stranded or otherwise made flexible, and in addition to the terminal G has another terminal -H, (see Figs. 1,

2, and 4,) consisting of a strip of copper having a loop 77., in which the conductor G is compressed and soldered in place. The strip is formed to fit the top-of the brush I, which is cut away at 2', so that the sides of the strip and the brush are in the same plane, and thus the brush may move freely in and out of the box O, the strip H following it in its play. The mode of connecting the brush and conductor is not of our invention. The spring E is also slotted at 6 so that it may rest on each side of the loop him the strip H.

The operation of the device is as follows: When it is desired to remove one of the brushes I, the screw F is turned, thus turning also the nut F and releasing the terminal 0 G of the conductor G, which is then drawn. through the slot 6, as shown in Fig. 1. The spring is then removed from the top of the brush, which may then be removed and a new one substituted, being placed in the box O, 5 and the operation reversed. The nut F not being free to rotate on the screw F, being held in place in the slot 6 of the spring E, when the terminal G is again placed under the nut F and the latter is pressed down upon it the tension of the spring E will be the same as it was before, so that the tension of the spring may be relieved and the brush removed as desired without altering the adjustment of the brush-pressure when the parts are reas- 1o 5 sembled.

IOG

that we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. A brush-holder for a dynamo-electric machine, comprising a rigid arm secured to a stud and carrying a holder for the brush, a spring for the brush, an adjusting device for the spring, and means for relieving the tension of the spring without altering its adjustment.

2. In a bruslrholder, a rigid arm having a clamp for attaching it rigidly to a stud, a brush, a spring pressing upon the brush, and a flexible conductor between the brush and the arm,with a tensionscrew for the spring, a nut on said screw for securing the spring and the flexible conductor in place.

3. The means for relieving the spring tension in a brush-holder without disturbing the adjustment, consisting of the screw F, the nut or shoulder F and the adj Listing-nut F.

4. In a brush-holder, the combination of the slotted spring, the nut held from rotation by the slot, the shank, the screw threaded into the shank, and the nut or shoulder on the screw for securing the spring to the shank.

5. The combination of the brush having a flexible conductor secured thereto, and the spring slotted at one end to bear upon the brush at each side of the 0011(1U0l101,311(l slotted at its other end whereby it can be moved rectilinearly off the brush.

6. In a brush-holder, the combination with the stud, of a one-part shank rigidly secured thereto, a brush supported in said shank, a spring secured to said shank and adapted to bear on said brush,and a flexible non-resilient conductor from the brush attached to the shank and forming a path for most of the current flowing between the brush and line.

7. In a brush-holder, the combination with asupport, of abrush therein, aspring adapted to bear on said brush, a flexible non-resilient conductor having one terminal connected to said brush, and means forsecuring said spring and the other terminal of said conductor to said support.

8. In a brush-holder, the combination with asupport, of abrush therein, a springadapted to bear on said brush, a flexible non-resilient conductor having one terminal connected to said brush, a screw engaging in said support, and a nut on said screw for securing the other terminal of said conductor and said spring to the support.

9. The combination with a support, of a U shaped spring, a screw passing through both legs thereof and engaging in said support,and nuts on said screw, one between the legs of the spring, and the other outside the leg which is farther from the support.

10. The combination with a support, of a brush therein, a spring adapted to bear on said brush, a flexible non-resilient conductor having one terminal connected to the brush, a screw passing through said spring and engaging in said support, an adjusting-nut for said spring operating on said screw, andanut operating on said screw for securing said.

springand the otherterminal of said conductor to said support.

ll. In abrush-holder, the combination with a spring for the brush, of means for adj usting the tension of said spring, and means for re leasing the tension on said spring without changing the effect of said adjusting means.

12. Inabrush-holder, the combination with an adjustable spring, of a support therefor, and means for securing the spring to the support without affecting the adjustment of the spring.

13. In a brush-holder, the combination with an adjustable spring, of a support therefor, and means for attaching the spring thereto whereby said spring can be revolved without affecting the adjustment thereof.

14:. In abrush-holder, the combination with aslotted U-s11apedspring,of asecuring-screw passing through said slotted portions, and a tension-nut on said screw held from rotation with the screw in the slot.

15. In a brush-holder, the combination with asupport, of a spring pressing the brush upon the collector, a screw mounted in the support and held against the tendency of the spring to force it from the support, and a nut on the screw which is adapted to control the tension of the spring.

16. In a bruslrholder, the combination with a support,of a spring bearing on the brush,and means for adjusting the tension of the spring, adapted to permit the removal of the brush from the holder and the substitution of a new brush without changing the adjustment of said means.

17. In a brush-holder, the combination of a support, a spring bearing on the brush, and means for adjusting the tension of the spring, said spring cooperating with said means to lock the latter in its adjusted position.

18. In a brush-holder, the combinatiomwith a support, of a U-shaped spring, one portion of which bears on the brush, a screw for securing the other portion of the spring to the support, and a nut working along the screw and adapted to bear on the portion of the spring which bears on the brush, to control the tension of the spring.

19. In abrush-holder, the combination with a shank adapted to be secured to a suitable support, of a U-shaped spring, one portion of which bears on the brush, a flexible electric conductor secured to the brush, a screw for securing the other portion of the spring and the flexible conductor to the shank, and a nut working along the screw bearing on the portion of the spring which bears on the brush.

In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands this 26th day of August, 1808.

IIERMANN F. T. ERBEN. WILLIAM 13. PO'I"ER.

\Vitnesses A. F. MAQDONALD, A. 11.. AunLL. 

